


A Late Night Walk

by kittleimp



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, Teenagers, Walks In The Park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 13:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1859886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittleimp/pseuds/kittleimp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3am is a time for silently holding hands and denying that the world around you still exists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Late Night Walk

**Author's Note:**

> [For some odd reason](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1185219/), I've really started to enjoy shipping these two. There isn't enough out there for them, so here is my offering.
> 
> Many thanks to [catmagics](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catmagics) for reading this over.

“I hate everything about you.”

The line was said with that signature smirk, the one that left his teeth just barely exposed and his eyebrows quirking up as if to say, “Are you really taking me seriously?” Steve wasn’t. The line was something close to a joke between them, actually. When Cecil would spit those words, he was always so red-faced that the fire in his eyes could burn down the town. Earl wasn’t Cecil. The intern was at home by now, probably snoozing away the day’s troubles, but Earl was sprawled across the park bench that Steve was sitting on with his legs hanging off of the end.

“Really, I hate you so much,” Earl continued, looking up to the swirl of stars scattered across the void. “You get me into so much trouble. Here I am, up at three in the morning, and I have to go to a scout meeting at seven.”

“Why didn’t you go home, then? I asked if you wanted to after we finished our chemistry project,” Steve asked as he ran his fingers through the unruly red curls. He managed to work a crumpled leaf out of their depths. However dirty he was, the weight of Earl’s head was comfortable in his lap.

“I would have, but I hate going home more than I hate you.”

It was a reality that Steve was all too familiar with. He grew up in a small, two-bedroom house with two siblings and a single father. Nobody could ask for a more supportive parent, but the strain of raising three children made the house too uncomfortable for Steve’s liking.

By comparison, Earl’s life should have been easy. With no siblings, a large house, and both parents seated firmly at the dinner table, things seemed like they should have been. Yet Earl still struggled to find their mold of a perfect young son. The only thing the three of them seemed to agree on was that his place was with the Boy Scouts of America. It just went to show that not everyone with a so-called “perfect life” was so perfectly happy.

They couldn’t have been more different, but maybe that is what made them so perfect for each other.

“I think I’ll just stay awake,” Earl said. “Like, if I go to bed now I’ll sleep through my alarm, right? Then I’ll miss the meeting and be in deep shit.”

Steve made a small humming noise in what was meant to be agreement. It earned him only a sharp poke in the stomach. The scout rolled his eyes.

“I swear I’m not sleeping,” Steve said honestly. “I’m just really tired. This seemed like a good idea at midnight when we decided to camp out here, but...”

Earl sat up and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you do it, Steve Carlsberg. Don’t you dare yawn.”

He couldn’t help himself, but at least he managed to hold off until after Earl had yawned on his own. Their proposed camping trip was a lost cause that had become a failed all-nighter. Steve stood up slowly. His back popped as he stretched his arms over his head, but Earl remained on the bench.

“Come on, Earl. Let’s go home,” he urged the scout, trying to pull on his hand.

“No, I’m going to stay right here just like I said.”

“You have to change into your uniform, at least.”

That got Earl on his feet, however unsteadily. He may have constantly complained about wearing the uniform, but Steve knew he was proud of it. He’d be an Eagle Scout inside of two months. What wasn’t to be proud of? Steve was almost jealous of his dedication.

Together they wandered thoughtlessly through the empty streets of Night Vale in silence. Was it safe? No, of course not, but that was why they were doing it. What better way to rebel against the world than to constantly risk their lives? It was stupid, even they could see that, but it brought another benefit. Earl slid his hand into Steve’s and threaded their fingers together. Steve squeezed back gently.

“We could hang out at my house for a while,” Earl suggested quietly. “My parents won’t be up, so they won’t have anything to say about you staying over. I’ll change first and then we can sit around for a while. Wait for sunrise or something.”

“Sounds good to me,” Steve said and they fell into a comfortable silence again.

It wasn’t a relationship. They agreed on that much. The first disagreement came on whether or not it should be. Steve was for it in almost every way possible, which was fair enough considering how quickly he had developed serious feelings for his friend. Things were harder for Earl. He was still hung up on Cecil, which was fair as well considering that he was technically still waiting for an answer. It had been three months. Earl was the only one who thought an answer was coming at all.

They walked into the house hand in hand and shut the door quietly. Before they started up the stairs, they slipped their shoes off on the plastic mat by the door and lined them up to match the others. Steve was thankful for the soft carpet in place of the hard concrete. He flopped onto Earl’s bed before the scout had managed to close the door.

“We aren’t here to sleep,” Earl reminded him firmly. “I’m just changing, then we can play video games until I have to go.”

With that, he pulled his shirt over his head and let it drop into the laundry basket. Steve didn’t bother pointing out that he had lent Earl the shirt the week before. It would either make its way back to him or it wouldn’t . Neither idea bothered him too much, seeing as he was wearing Earl’s sweatshirt. The fabric hung off of him loosely. That was no surprise, but he wished it would fit him just a little better.

Steve shoved his own insecurities aside to appreciate the boy in front of him. Earl had the young muscles of someone who made sure to not only stay in shape, but go above and beyond. It was the body of a future scoutmaster. Not a rare sight to Steve, but one that he didn’t mind watching anyway.

“Stare a bit harder, Steve. It’ll give you a good image to work with later,” Earl said with that same damn smirk.

Steve flushed and flopped face-first into the bed, but the shirtless scout crawled onto the mattress and forced his arms around his friend’s waist. He flattened Steve to the bed with a low chuckle and pressed his lips to the back of his neck. Apparently Earl had a different way to stay awake in mind. Steve sucked in a breath and waited patiently for Earl to make the next move.

He stopped waiting when a soft snore came from the boy on his back. Earl barely woke up when Steve slipped out from under him, but blinked his light blue eyes open when the covers were pulled from under him.

“I s’d no sl’p,” he tried to protest, but it all came out as a mangled slur.

“I’m saying yes, sleep,” Steve said and pulled him in by the hand.

Once they were settled under the blanket, they had ended up in their typical position. Earl was snoring softly with Steve spooning him, holding him close with an arm around his waist. The last thing that Steve saw before his eyes slide closed was the clock reading 4:00am through Earl’s red fluff of hair.

By the time the sun began to rise over the small desert town, the local troop of Boy Scouts had already started their meeting. The only one not present was one Earl Harlan.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to observe the writer in their natural habitat, please feel free to visit me as [kittleimp](http://kittleimp.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


End file.
